A Petty Thief In England Has Been Legally Banned From Using Any Vending Machines For The Next Five Years

Russell Stansfield might just be the first person in history to be legally banned from using any coin-operated machine. The order, which remains in effect until 2020, was handed down by a Manchester court after Stansfield was caught pinching money from a parking meter and confessed to having committed a number of similar crimes.

“It’s just weird if I’m honest, there are so many things I can’t do,” the petty thief told Manchester Evening News upon hearing the court’s decision. “If I’m at the hospital for hours for example I can’t buy any food from the machines.”

The ban goes a little beyond just a simple “don’t use coin machines,” though. In a way, it dictates where Stansfield is allowed — or rather, where he’s not allowed — to go. As the local paper pointed out, in addition to the coin machine ban, he can’t do any of the following for the next five years:

Visit any hospital or its car parks unless visiting a patient or being treated

Visit any airport or its car parks unless using it for travel in which case he needs proof

Touch, interfere or use a pay phone unless contacting the emergency services

Loiter near any public transport ticket machines unless buying a ticket in which case he needs to go up to the machine only once, buy the ticket and leave.